Portrait of a Man with a Dog

portrait

Passerotti was a much sought-after portraitist in Bologna in the latter half of the sixteenth century, immediately preceding the naturalistic reforms of the Carracci brothers. He achieved high quality and originality in portraiture. In the Portrait of a Man with a Dog Passerotti presented a novel compositional idea: the young man clasps the spotty dog to his chest, while he turns to the viewer with a clear and intense gate, as if he had been suddenly addressed.

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About the Artist

Bartolomeo Passerotti

1529 – 1592

Bartolomeo Passerotti (also Passarotti or Passarotto), Italian painter, who except for some years in Rome (c. 1551 - c. 1565) worked in his native Bologna. There he had a large studio, which became the focal point of the city's artistic life. He was a pupil of Girolamo Vignola and Taddeo Zuccaro, in Rome. Here, he also came into contact with the works of Correggio and Parmigianino. The religious paintings that were the basis of his success were fairly conventional and undistinguished, and he is now remembered for his pioneering genre scenes of butchers' shops (one of the few surviving examples is in the Galleria Nazionale, Rome). They reflect the influence of northern painters such as Aertsen and in their lively observations broke free from prevailing Mannerism. Annibale Carracci (whose brother Agostino studied with Passerotti) was influenced by these genre scenes in his early career. In addition to his religious and genre works, Passarotti painted excellent portraits throughout his career. His son Tiburzio (d. c. 1612) imitated his style, and he in turn had two artist sons, Gaspare and Archangelo.

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